Hyderabad: Manohar, a garlic trader, has been starting his days over the past week with uncertainty about, given that there hasn’t been much business. His trade has been affected due to the slow pace of work on the Osmangunj Nala by the civic authorities, which has been going on from some time. Like Manohar, several other traders also have been incurring losses from some time now.
“After the authorities started work on the nala, it is still works in progress in spite of more than two months passing by. We request the concerned officers to complete the works at the earliest,” said Neelesh Kumar, a trader, told siasat.com.
The Osmangunj market, one of the largest trading hubs of ginger and garlic in the city, has over 300 traders. Many of them claim that they are incurring losses due to the ongoing work on the Osmangunj nala (sewer). The nala has been a perennial probem for traders; earlier when it used to constantly overflow, and now thanks to the work being undertaken by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
The GHMC took up the development work of the nala in July this year, and since then it has not ended. For the same reason, a major traffic diversion has also come in place from the Moazzam Jahi Market circle, causing traffic snarls at Jambagh, Troop Bazar, Gowliguda and Begum Bazar everyday. The ongoing work on the entire stretch has also resulted in customers not being able to reach the market.
“The work was supposed to be completed in a period of one month by the end of July. We traders are running at about losses of 40 per cent (in terms of business),” said Ravi Reddy, another garlic trader. The ongoing work has essentially made it difficult for commuting, only a narrow stretch of the roads is left open for, which causes traffic jams. Trucks with loads of ginger and garlic arrive at the market in the night.
Sumit Singh, another businessman from the area said, “Trucks with loads face huge difficulties in entering the market and drivers are also asking extra charges as they face hardships to bring their truck into the market. We are not able to bring even small goods carriers inside the market area,” he lamented.
According to a GHMC official, the drainage canal bridge work at Osmangunj was taken up by the municipal corporation in collaboration with Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited (HRDCL) in July and an amount of Rs 2.55 crore was sanctioned.
However the official promised that the work would be completed by next month, “The work had started in the month of July and will be completed in one more month. The pillars and walls were constructed and the canal works are in progress,” informed the official.